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128 FROM THE ARCHIVES
SILVA - A LIFE
“I started riding when I was little,
about seven years old – I just rode
in the little pony club stable. I
finished school. My dad is a lawyer,
so he wanted me to go to Uni,
but I didn’t want to do that so we
had a little argument, but it was
alright, I started my Bereiter in
Paul Veck’s stables.”
“This is a government owned
stable and stallion station in the
Rhineland breeding area. I worked
there for three years – Paul Veck
actually trained Jean Bemelmanns,
he was a great trainer. He is nearly
70 years old, so he is from the old
school. It was a hard three years.
We worked seven days and started
early in the morning and finished
late at night, but it was worth it.
I learnt heaps and heaps.”
“I saw all the stallions from
Warendorf that came there for the
breeding season – like Florestan –
and saw them work. I competed
a lot at that time, many young
horses and up to Prix St Georges.
Then I did my Bereiter’s license
in Warendorf, at the Westphalien
State Stud. I was graded one of the
best riders in my class and won a
scholarship to train with Herbertus
Schmidt for three months. That
was great, and even better, he kept
me on for another year.”
“That was the best time, working
with him because he is such a nice
guy. There are so many horses
there, and it is really exciting. I got
lessons on every horse every day.”
He has a very distinctive way of
riding, a very light contact – it is
beautiful to watch?
“It is just amazing to watch him
work, he is very very focussed,
and he really loves his horses. The
funny thing is that he is just a
farmer, he’s not up himself – he
does his hay and straw himself,
and he does all the stable work
–
in between he rides a couple of
FEI horses.”
“Because he has bereiters that
have been there for ten, twelve
years, he rang Rudolf Zeilinger,
and I got a job with him. I stayed
there for three years, which is
great as well, different to what
Hubertus does, not much, but a
bit. I got lessons on every horse,
rode eight or nine horses a day. In
his stable he has about 30 horses,
and at least 20 are Grand Prix!
You go through the movements
every day.”
Is that important, to get the
Grand Prix movements so they
are like riding walk, trot, canter?
“It is hard if you just have
one horse, you can’t ride every
movement with that horse every
day, but if you have the chance like
I had, of riding that many Grand
Prix horses, it is just amazing how
quickly you get used to riding one
times, or piaffe or passage. It’s
the best way to learn it, to do it.”
“I got to compete which is
unusual in stables like that, so I
was very lucky.” hTHM